


Under the Surface

by Agent_Melinda_May



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-07
Updated: 2014-08-07
Packaged: 2018-02-07 21:56:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 16,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1915293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agent_Melinda_May/pseuds/Agent_Melinda_May
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The events of Turn Turn Turn take a darker turn when Coulson and Skye confront May. AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Drop the weapon!” Coulson demanded, his gun fazed to May again. Her arm lowered.

“Coulson-”

“Drop the damn weapon and kick it over to the stairs, May now!” He snapped.

May closed my eyes briefly. He was thinking the worse of her. She didn’t really have the choice unless she wanted one in the body. She bent down and dropped it, straightening up before kicking it towards the stairs. She already knew what he would say next.

“Back the Hell up, over there!” His gun gestured to the other side, next to Lola.

Keeping her hands to the side, May look large steps towards the car, Skye’s gun trained on her as Coulson descended from the stairs. She stopped and turned but couldn’t help fear of what was going to happen. They didn’t know that she couldn’t tell them, bound by orders. Coulson was unhinged, his demeanour showed it. He was turning on them. Fair point to her because she’d been reporting but she knew he would never trust her again.

They knew something, something she didn’t and were thinking of her. He thought she was talking to the clairvoyant because of a phone?

“Talk.” He said, the ICER in one hand, “Tell us where you’ve rerouted the plane”

He didn’t believe her.

“I didn’t set this new course, I swear!” May said desperately.

“The plane just turned around for god’s sake,” Fits shouted at the same time Coulson roared “Don’t lie to me”

“How is this happening then?”

“HQ can override automated control of the Avionics, take us anywhere they want. Let me check the instrument panel and I’ll be able to-”

“No way!” Fitz roared.

“You’re not going anywhere until you explain the-”

“IT’S NOT ME!” May thundered. Hoping they would get that message.  Coulson stared at her for a short moment.

“Why’d you have an encrypted hard line?”

“And tried to shoot me when we found it?” Fitz added.

“Let’s take a breath.” May stated, everything was getting too heated. She sensed an accident could happen.

“Let’s NOT” Coulson shouted, jerking forwards with the gun. May flinched back.

“It was a dedicated line. To Director Fury. THAT’S the truth.”

Coulson looked taken aback, “Director Fury? I haven’t been able to get him onto the line for weeks.”

“You’ve been reporting to him?” Skye said, almost looking offended.

“That’s all I can tell you.” She admitted, the feeling of exhaustion was overwhelming.

“Oh just come out with it!”

“That’s all you can tell us?” Coulson repeated in disbelief.

“I’M UNDER ORDERS!” May shouted.  “Fury will tell you.” her breath shook as she exhaled. Her eyes darted back down to the gun then back to his face. The hard lines had aged him, like she had seen when he found out about his death from his report, she didn’t like it.

Just then the plane shook violently, some of the planes power being knocked away,  this time causing everyone to stumble violently, May backwards, falling against Lola’s bonnet. Coulson and the other two too but she watched in horror as Coulson lost his balance, his grip on the gun tightening….

BANG!

She felt herself freeze up but felt something rip into her stomach. Her shocked gasp cut off, her hands shooting to her stomach. Agony raged through her, burning. May looked down to see a hole in her leather jacket, blood oozing out and down the dark material, running through her fingers too, droplets hitting the metal floor. Everything blurred momentarily. She could feel beads of sweat forming on her face. May looked up, confused and stunned.

“You shot me.” She breathed but a coppery taste had formed in her mouth. Each breath burnt.

Coulson’s face had turned from a rage and hard to shock and horror, his face paler than ever. Skye’s gun was on the floor, her arms still raised as if she was still holding the gun. May heard the alarms ring loudly, almost deafening. Everything seemed to have increased in volume. She could feel the ramp lowering, the cool air felt like heaven on her boiled skin. Hot and cold flushes running through her. She felt her arms unable to hold herself up, slipping from Lola she fell onto her side. May gasped in pain as she was moved, spitting out blood as she made contact with the metal floor. Everything lost focused but she came aware that she was slipping...rolling over…

May barely saw Coulson dash forwards before the edge of the ramp but she couldn’t do anything. She let herself go, watching the moonlight suddenly appear from the darkness. The cold air stung her eyes but she kept them open, the bus shooting away, getting smaller. She could just make out three figures on the edge before they were gone.

The wind whipped mercilessly at her body but she didn’t care anymore. She was going to die. Never thought Coulson would be the reason. Though she couldn’t blame him. Not really. At least… she didn’t have to struggle. Not anymore. Life had been a constant weight, Bahrain, the death of her family, the betrayal of Coulson… No more.

She closed her eyes.

May hoped it wouldn’t hurt, that it would be quick but they were overseas, so she would drown if she survived the fall. She faintly could hear the sounds of whistling from the wind but could hear something else. Sounded like soft music. She opened her eyes, tumbling onto her front, the dark sea was getting bigger. But she found herself not fearing it like she should have. May could see a white dot, just coming into view, getting bigger, right where she was falling. She closed her eyes again falling around onto her back again, not wanting to see her final end.

She felt an odd tingle pass though her, then the feeling like someone was stabbing her with pins in every inch of her skin. Then she felt the coldness suddenly around her, water clouding everything out. Water suddenly shot down her throat, unable to breathe, the air was forced out her lungs, her lungs doing no attempt to get water out or air in. Everything began to spin, her lungs burning for oxygen while her wound bunt from the salt in the water.

Every moment of trying to get to surface failed, burning her wound even more. May gave up, stopping movement. Her limbs became numb but the shot was agony. Feeling herself sinking, the dark sky was getting darker as the seconds rolled by but she couldn’t lose consciousness. She could see a swirl of red float upwards from her body but she didn’t care. She’d probably get eaten by sharks. She watched through blurs as the last of the air rose from her mouth, rising up.

Everything darkened… almost black. Her deaf ears picked up the same music as before she saw something dark approach her but she couldn’t concentrate, everything was getting darker and darker. May closed her eyes. But then something brushed against her forehead and hands but then everything sank into black.


	2. Chapter 2

Skye could only watch helplessly as the spec she knew was May vanish from sight, disappearing through clouds and the dark sea under it.

“No.” She breathed. The wind whipped her hair about, sound harder to hear over it, it burnt her eyes slight but she couldn’t look away.

_May…_

The strongest woman she had known…gone. There was no way she could have survived, even with the shot there was water. She’d be dead even if they could get to her. She’d bled out, the fall could have broken her bones, of not that then she’d have drowned. Just then there was a loud creek, making her freeze. She whipped around to see Fitz at the ramp door controls.

“What the hell are you doing?” Skye thundered.

Fitz looked to him, his face had tear streaks.

“I don’t want anyone else to fall. There’s nothing we can do. We can find her later but we have to figure out what the hell is going on.” He answered. Beside her Coulson rose and stepped away front he edge, tugging har along.

She glanced to his face to see his face paler than ever, shock and devastation in his face. Tears in his eye but they didn’t fall.

“I’m so sorry.” She whispered. They had history, a past friendship, maybe even love.

“I should have listened.” He mumbled.

The ramp closing behind them. Skye felt her stomach churn as she saw the red pool and streaks on the cargo floor. It almost wanted her to be sick.

“Don’t do that right not,” Skye said, “We have to find out where we’re going. We can grieve her later, look for her even but we have to sort ourselves out.”

Coulson finally nodded. “Get your laptop hooked up.” he ordered, his voice stronger, harder even. Skye hurried to get her laptop, bringing it straight down to the lab and set it up, starting to hack into the system.

Coulson stood with his back to her and Fitz, staring at the blood on the floor. His gun resting on the side.

“God, there’s so much noise.” Skye breathed as she got into the system. Everything was static, messages and signals.

“Noise?” Fitz questioned.

“Literally Noise across every SHIELD communication line. Signals everywhere. It goes deep.”

“Can you find the cause?”

“Trying but it’s like trying to wade through mud.” Skye muttered, trying her best not to think of what could happen to Simmons. She couldn’t deal with another lost team member.

_“Shield…616.”_ Came a voice. She just recognised it to be Agent Garrett.

“Garrett?” Coulson spoke turning to them.

_“Coulson, enemy air craft on my tail…not getting long…”_ his voice wavered in and out, the clogged system making it hard to get a good transmission.

“We have guns, come to us.” Coulson said. “Fitz, can you manually wire up weapons controls.”

“Yes, if I have the wires.” Fitz answered, disappearing.

“I’ll be able to hack this encrypted file at the holocomm, meet you there?” Skye picked up her laptop and hurried up as both males disappeared. She wirelessly connected her laptop up to the system, restarting the encryption, trying to ignore the sounds of guns and the shakes of the plane.

Five minutes later it halted and both men reappearing.

“Anything?”

“Close, should bring it up any second.” She answered.

Garrett stormed in, “What the hell?” He asked.

“We don’t know.” Coulson answered, folding his arms. “We don’t know where our plane’s heading even.”

“You’re being dragged back to the Hub. Those drones must be come from there.”

Coulson stared at him for a moment.

“Victoria Hand?”

Skye knew what he meant. “Not again, Coulson.” He flinched, his face cracking.

“What happened” Garrett asked, looking between them.

“Agent May’s dead.” Skye choked out.

Garrett’s jaw dropped. “What?”

“I shot her.” Coulson snapped, “I lost my balance whiles holding a gun to her, we though she was talking to the clairvoyant through an encrypted hard-line we found. I was wrong.” He leant against the holocomm.

“The power shorted out causing the ramp to lower and she rolled off it.” Fitz finished bitterly.

Garrett looked down. “I’m sorry, Phil. Truly.” He said sympathetically. “But those drones were ordered out from the Hub, If Vic is the clairvoyant then we’re screwed. “   

“Simmons is at the hub. We can’t lose her. Not after May.” Fitz declared.

“Trip too.” Garrett added, remembering his existence. Then everyone looked to the screen.

_Out of the shadows into the light. Hail Hydra._

Fitz’s grip tightened on the edge of the holocomm. Coulson’s jaw locked. Skye’s eyes widened. That was not good. She glanced to Coulson. She didn’t know what to do. Hydra was in SHILED.

“We need to get them. Hand must be Hydra, seizing control of the Hub. Trip and Simmons don’t have enough time. They may have been captured.”

“We need to get Ward out, he can help. I’ll tell him everything.” Garrett said, disappearing.

“Do what you can, Skye.” Coulson murmured, wandering away from the command centre.

 

Coulson headed up to the cockpit. He didn't know why but he did. Opening the door to see it looking ordinary. His chest sized up as he saw a SHIELD mug on the side, steaming so it had been recent. There was even lipstick marks on the rim.

_I didn’t do it Phil!_ Her brown eyes wide with confusion. _I don’t know what’s happening._

He fought back those moments. It was clear now that she wasn’t a Hydra sleeper. How could he have been so blind? He knew May. Ever since the academy, back then she had been an open  book, easy to read unless she wanted otherwise. Bahrain had taken her childhood spar right away but she was still Melinda May. Only Colder.

She had always had his back yet he never had hers. Now she wouldn’t hear his apology. How was he to tell her mother? How could he even look at her? All he would see was May.

He sucked in a deep breath, plucking up the courage to take a few more steps in and open her locker. Inside was a tin where he knew she kept pictures. Of the team, they didn’t know of curse but he did. He picked up the tin and sank down to the floor, unable to sit in any of the seats. They were _her_ seats, he didn’t have the right to, not after what he had done.

_I’m so sorry Melinda._


	3. Chapter 3

May didn’t know when she woke up, but she could feel like she was still underwater, drifting in and out of unconsciousness peacefully, the numbness of her body helped, in a way. It stopped her from knowing if she was truly dead, underwater or above it. It didn’t seem significant.

Not anymore.

Slowly, though the heavy darkness, May began to feel her fingers. From what she could tell, they were floating shortly in front of her. She felt herself move them, her fingertips brushing against each other. It almost tickled.

Maybe… she wasn't dead.

She couldn’t open her eyes or tell whether she was breathing.

How was she even alive? She was bleeding out! Drowning! Freezing! The fall!

She tried to find her eyes, to open and see… she couldn’t. Everything felt too numb but she was gaining feeling again. Blindly May tugged her hands closer to her abdomen, feeling her stomach she wasn't connected to yet.

May’s fingers brushed the hole in the material from there a bit further through the water logged leather and cotton to the shot. She gasped as pain shot through her whole form as her fingers brushed the broken flesh, waking her body as if a shock ran through her nervous system. Her eyes shot open but to her own surprise and horror… she saw the surface of the water above her. Dark so May knew she was deep under.

How was she even breathing? How was this possible? What had happened?

May sucked in, more water shooting down her throat, cleaning out the old but it felt…almost normal, even as she breathed out. Her stomach burning in response, reminding her it was still there.

Confusing bubbled through her completely. _What……_

May looked down to her feet, doing my best to move them, bringing the feeling to her toes. She needed- no, _had_ to- figure this out!

She shifted her hands, the cold making her fingers stiff, to her throat, running her fingers alongside her wind pipe but was glad to feel it was normal alongside a steady pulse. She hadn’t suddenly sprouted gills which she felt was a good thing but it didn’t help solve anything apart she wasn't still dead.

She glanced around this time. Finally taking in the scenery which was strangely in focus, Her eyes not bothered by the water. The need to blink was less but May felt it was done out of habit. She couldn’t see the bottom, so she was closer to the surface. A plus in this…mess. May could just see a few fish swimming lazily about, unconcerned. Thankfully no sharks in the matter though she sensed there should have been because of the blood. Her stomach was no longer bleeding for a strange fact as well.

Pressing one hand back to her stomach, ignoring the flash of pain and swivelled herself around. She needed to get to land for starters, swimming up seemed too far for the moment. Keeping one hand pressed to her stomach, she used the other to propel herself forwards, kicking her feet, the boots she was wearing weren’t helping either. May clenched her teeth together, ignoring the dizziness that appeared.

_One step at a time,_ She thought.

*

Swimming was exhausting work, swapping her arms many times before using both, her wound hurt like hell but May wasn’t going to stop, she couldn’t drown but she needed to lay down and sleep, properly. She was so tired. She just wanted to sleep but not like this. Not in the middle of the sea.

As if by a calling, a dark shape seemed to be appearing as she slowly kicked her way forwards. Hope filled her, was it a surface? She began to hurry, biting back the burn as her movements jolted the shot.

To her dismay it wasn't land but it had a opening…much like a large cave . This was the best this she was going to get so she kicked her way towards it. It looked like a huge reef, stretching up, around it long dead, the shells around it, showed nothing of life. A good thing in her books but she didn’t enjoy the idea of sleeping underwater. It was already uncomfortable to wrap her head around it. She should be long dead.

It looked very dark as she approached the mouth of the cave, but she didn’t care. There would be a creature inside but at least she tried if she got eaten. Using the sides, she dragged herself along the water cave, glancing up she saw a layer of what looked like air. Air! This was probably connected to a small island or something, a underground as well as underwater, she hoped.

Digging her fingers into the slimy rock she began to head towards it, a small spot of light seemed to be there.  Her head broke surface but she couldn’t breathe. Her arms finding an edge of what felt like a small sanded beach inside before she began to clamber desperate up it. Her hands met solid rock before she coughed, water spewing from her chest, some coming out red.

She didn’t stop coughing but as air filled her lungs, the water washed out she let herself lay down, panting. God she just wanted to sleep. So bad. But there was one thing she needed to do. Her hand lifted up her shirt. The bullet. Biting her lip she pressed her fingers into the wound, but to her relief it hadn’t gone in that far before she felt her fingers hit the foreign object.

Tears sprung up instantly, agony washing through her but her dug her nails into the metal. She needed it out before she could relax. Holding her breath and in one single movement, she felt the sharp object dislodge coming out with her finger nails. She retained her cry but let her head fall back onto the soft sand, breathing heavy, her hands clenching. It was out. She could sleep. Keeping her hand pressed over the wound that was bleeding again, she closed her eyes. Falling fast into slumber, not caring where she was or how long she slept, she could now _finally_ rest.


	4. Chapter 4

“We’re at the Hub, They've taken out our guns.” Garrett called through, the cockpit door opening to see Coulson on the floor.  Coulson cleared up the photographs, pulling out May’s bag and put it in, trying to ignore the heavy weight in his chest. It wouldn't go. He opened her locker and emptied it into the Bag. He couldn’t just leave her stuff, not with Hydra. He couldn't do that.

But he also had to be strong for his team. They needed him. Now more than ever.  He put the bag onto his back and headed down but that’s when the windows started to smash in. Garrett instantly pulled him to the metal ground, tumbling down the stairs.

“What the hell!” Garrett breathed, winded having fallen on his back. Coulson pulled May’s bag up right and helped Garrett up, keeping low from the shooting being delivered from the cockpit windows.

“Get down stairs. There’re making sure we can’t fly, a strike team will be next but they’ll want to preserve the aircraft.” It was too expensive to shoot down. Coulson and Garrett headed down, meeting the others who were getting to lower decks to avoid the similar fate of May’s. He winced at the thought, his muscles clenching. He touched the material of the bag to make sure it was still there.

“Everyone alright?” Coulson asked, checking as they passed.

“Shaken up.” Skye answered but he couldn’t blame her, or Fitz. They had witnessed him do something he should never had done, something he couldn’t take back. He took a deep breath, steadying himself from those thoughts. He couldn’t think about that right now.

“We need to grab what we can, make sure it’s light, arm yourself.” Ward said, to Skye and Fitz.

“ICERs only.” Coulson called back in a hard tone. He couldn’t even have the thought of killing an agent under orders.

They nodded, talking among themselves.

“Is it true” Coulson heard Ward ask Garrett, “About May.”

He flinched at her name. Guilt rose though his, weighing his heart down that felt almost like agony. Her stunned shocked face flashed through his mind, followed by her bleeding body, falling from the ramp while he could do nothing…

He shuddered suddenly, making Garrett jump. He looked about, terror seized him as he saw Skye missing.

“Where’s Skye?” He asked urgently.

“The Lab, downloading everything onto a hard drive.” Ward reassured.

“It’ll take time so we need to rig motion sensor explosives to the Cargo hold. It won’t take long to pry the ramp down since I’ve cut the hydraulics in the ramp.” Fitz answered.

“That should buy us more time.” Garrett agreed. Coulson nodded, shredding his jacket for a bullet proof one, Pocketing his rounds and fixed his ICERs. He fixed May’s bag onto his slightly bigger, more protected one and put it on.

After rigging up the cargo hold they headed down, Fitz taking charge in front with a device that cut through the bottom of the plane. He felt the hard drive being pushed into his hands.

“It’s safer in your hand, Coulson.” Skye said. He didn’t argue, just slipped it into his bag. There was a thud.

“Cargo ramp’s down.” Ward concluded.

Ina couple of minutes they were in the tunnels of the Hub.

“Good luck.” Coulson whispered as they split it.

“You too sir.” Fitz said, he and Skye taking a route somewhere else, leaving him with Ward and Garrett.

 

Simmons waited patiently with Agent Hand as they strode into the situation room towards an agent in black.

“We’ve stormed the plane, no one on. They were on board but must have snuck of somehow.” He answered. A small woman behind him.

“Have the tunnels checked.” Agent Hand replied.

“Another thing.” The woman said as Agent Hand was about to turn away.

Agent Hand paused.

“We found a quantity of blood around the corvette and ramp door. We tested it and it came back positive to Agent May.”

Simmons frowned. What? Blood?

“And?” Hand said, concerned.

“The streak patterns suggest she was shoved or fallen from the plane in mid-flight, the log came back of the cargo hold opening half an hour before the Bus landed here.”

“No.” Simmons breathed. May…dead? That sounded impossible. Who would kill her?

Hand frowned, “Agent May is dead, as it seems. She must have found out about him, confronted him in the cargo hold, didn’t turn out well for her.”

“How could you say that about Coulson?!”  Simmons shouted before she could stop herself.

“He has a list of crimes, Agent Simmons. Blake came to me and expressed his feeling about him and some other 8 operatives. Shortly after Blake was put into critical while Agent May was left unharmed bar a few scratches from the debris. Agent May was ignorant of his interference until today.”

“Coulson isn’t capable of murdering May, They have history, a past!” Simmons argued.

“May that be, Agent Simmons, Hydra will never show mercy on their enemies, Today we do the same. Has he ever kept things from you?”

That stumped Simmons for a moment. She knew Coulson had a good reason, she under stood why on some of them. Her mind sprung to GH-325.

“Make a note of the fallen Agent May. “ Agent Hand said to the bald agent by her side, “Let her death not be in vain as we strike down Hydra.”

Simmons’s fist clenched in anger. Coulson couldn’t have killed May. He cared too much to pull the trigger.

“Ma’am, we have a breach in computer room, base 5. It’s Coulson.” Agent Shaw said from a monitor.

“Put up the recording on screen. Is there a camera?”

“Yes, bringing it up now.”

Simmons flinched at the sudden picture to see Coulson and Ward standing in front of Garrett and agents, their guns pointed to them. Dead agents dragged off to the side.

_“….Ward. I expected better. After everything I’ve did for you” Garrett drawled as he strutted over to him. Ward glared._

_“You’ve done? You abandoned me in the woods for five years, visiting occasionally and shot my dog!” He spat. Coulson looked to Ward, concerned._

_“You were hydra?”_

_“Was. You showed me a path I needed to see.” Ward answered, looking honest to Coulson. “I lived hell all my life, the way you treated me was far better and fair than a day with this bastar-“ he was cut off by a punch to the cheek. There were clicks as Coulson made to move to help Ward._

Simmons winced.

“Coulson’s not hydra.” She whispered. But it was ignored.

_“He killed Agent May, Ward. Unarmed and in cold blood, right off the Bus ramp!” Garrett hissed. “You want to stay with him and end up with her fate.”_

_“It was an accident!” Coulson hissed, his face darkened. “The power shorted out. I misbalanced!”_

_“You had the gun.”_

_Coulson flinched._

_“Leave May out of this.” Coulson spat back._

_“Hit a nerve?” Garrett drawled. “She would have followed you, Phil. Right to the grave. Had your back countless times only to die at your hand.”_

_Coulson looked to be holding himself back, wishing he could fire a gun into Garrett’s body._

_“I expected better of you Grant. We can’t have any traitors so you’ll have to go. Kill them both.”_

“They’re not hydra.” Simmons shouted, unable to take it anymore. “Please, we have to save them!”

With a hard nod, Agent Hand agreed, collected a squad and headed down.

There was a flash, the power flickering, making them all speed up in their step. Simmons hurried along with them, almost taking the lead. The two agents burst the door open.

“Freeze!” Simmons pushed her way through just in time to see Ward firing a shot straight into Garrett’s head but Garrett’s gun fired as his elbow hit the floor, sending the bullet straight into Ward. Everything seemed to have slowed down. He gasped in shock, falling to the floor.


	5. Chapter 5

Coulson didn’t hesitate to drop to Ward’s side, rolling the man over. He heard agents flood in but he sought out the damage.

“Ward! Ward!” Coulson called. Ward didn’t respond, his body going into shock.

He found a wound a second later, it had gone through the side of his jacket, just under his rib cage.

“Ward!” Coulson heard someone else shouted, recognising it to be Skye.  He pressed his hand over the bleeding wound, pulling off the jacket.

“Coulson, we have a medical team on their way.” He faintly heard Simmons say.

“I’m not hydra.” He called back but couldn’t leave Ward’s side. His blood seeping through his fingers but he kept his hand pressed onto the shot.  Then he heard the medical team arrive. They shoved him aside, replacing his hands with something better to stop the bleeding. Wheeling him away to surgery.

He couldn’t lose Ward, not after May. It didn’t seem to matter if he was ex-hydra. He was honest though and fought hydra even killing Garrett. Looking at the blood brought up the ramp in his mind. He clamped down on those thoughts.

He let himself be cleaned up, his hands washed and the slash on his arm gauzed but he felt dazed. People talked to him, he responded but he wasn’t that aware until he heard Simmons come to him.

“Ward’s in a induced coma, the shot went upwards through the muscle in between the ribs, it caught him in liver. They’ve removed a bit of his liver and the shot but they said he would recover fully, no damage to his lungs or large intestines but there was a lot of blood loss and internal bleeding.” She said; the words louder than everyone else’s.

He let out a long sigh. Ward was going to live. He wished he could have done the same for May. If the Bus never shorted out then he could have helped Fitz stabilise her till a medical facially came. He would have questioned her of course when she was awake. He could have saved her if he’d been a little faster.

“Agent Coulson.” Hand stated when he was in the situation room, a few agents walking about, the place more empty than before. Cleared of Hydra.

“Agent hand.” He answered.

“A repair team is fixing up the Bus. I’m going to pick up the pieces at the Hub. You can take your team. The Tree house and a few other bases were overrun with Hydra Agents and are flushed out and are on the run, they’re going to need a team to pick them up.”

“What about May?” He asked. He had to do something for her. His hands twitched to his back wither her bag in.

“We don’t have the resource to search for her body. We can get her funeral prepared for the earliest if you want. Her mother has yet to be informed.”

He gulped slightly.

“I’ll tell her.” He stated. “I’ll inform her personally, actually. I want Ward to be put onto the Bus in the medical pod. Both Agents Simmons and Triplett have medical knowledge.”

“Okay.” Agent Hand dug into her pocket and pulled out a phone, “Use this to communicate. Alongside the encrypted phone in the cockpit of the Bus. We’ve rewired the communication line to the Hub main frame but should come into my phone.”

He internally winced at the thought of the cockpit.

“When will the repairs be done?”

“This evening depending on the US Air Force.”

“They want to intervene.” He stated.  She rolled her eyes.

“Yes but we can persuade them to work with us. We give them Hydra agents with info, and a few bunkers if they’ll leave us alone.”

“If not?”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. But I’ll have agents ready to go dark and the system to erase any existence of our agents. Only lists they’ll find is the Hydra ones.”

“Good, feed them the wrong names.”

“Bank accounts have been funded should that happen, aliases are now being used. The Hub’s defenced are operation but then we’ll have a civil war on our hands.”

“Let’s hope for the best. I’ll need to make May’s arrangements now.”

“Good luck Agent Coulson. We both maybe the only highest level SHEILD agents that aren’t dead or Hydra. Doesn’t mean anything now. “

“You can call me Phil now. I’ll like an update after the meeting.”

They shook hands before departing. Coulson headed to the airfield. He saw Fitz was repairing the Ramp controls, Simmons was stocking up on medical supplies and food. Triplett was loading the fuel.

“Agent Coulson.” He stated, coming down from the ladder. “When you leave, can I catch a ride? Since Ward will be in recovery, I can be the specialist on the team.”

Coulson’s reaction would have been no but they needed allies. He was one of them.

“Yes. It’ll be good for Ward to talk to someone as a friend when he wakes; you two had the same thing in common.”

Triplett nodded, relieved. “I’ve patched up the fuel line so we won’t leak. Repairs are going quite fast.”

“We’ll be leaving when we can. We need to go Pennsylvania. Can you Pilot the Bus.”

“Of course.”

Coulson nodded and carried on through the Bus, ignoring the workmen. He didn’t stop till he reached his office and sat down at the desk. The windows repaired and no men in the room. His eyes lingered on the bullet holes in the walls, some of them filled in and some not.

Where had the bullet hit her? The stomach obviously but what damage did he cause? He closed his eyes, leaning back, his chest tightening, a heavy weight in his heart. He felt so tired but his mind was keeping him awake, nightmares would plague his sleep. May would haunt them, never letting him have peace he didn’t deserve. If he could it back he would have. He was too foolish to believe lies, presume that cost him his best friend’s life. The history they had was there, he would carry on but her slate would always remain blank from now. Like a flat line on a heart monitor.

He’d live with the regret but he would move on for her, build up SHIELD, to keep her memory alive. He would do it to his best. He’d give her the best funeral she’d deserved, small so only her mother, her team, and a few close friends. She never liked things dedicated to her but he would see she had her name put up on the Wall and Valour in gold. He knew she would slap him right across the face for even thinking of doing it but he didn’t care.

Turning to the Bus plan on the wall. Coulson lifted it off and opened the safe. Pulling out May’s bag from his and slipped it into the safe before sealing it shut. Her bunk wouldn’t be touched. He’d have a lock installed onto it and he would have the key.


	6. Chapter 6

May felt herself slowly return to consciousness. The feeling of being well rested sang through her stiff body. Her fingers cracked as she tested them, not moving straight away. She must have slept at least 12 hours and not moved an inch. Though she had to admit it was the best sleep she had since Bahrain. There were no nightmares.

She clenched her others fingers but felt them curl around something hard in her hand. She knew what it was. Slowly she opened her eyes. It was dark but she was still in the same spot she fell asleep on. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, she could see there was no other way out apart from the way she had came in.

The spot shedding small amounts of light was nothing but steep edges. She was glad to still feel her legs, though they were still in the water with a few bits of seaweed on them. She rolled her head to the side, her hands tightening around the bullet, her hand on her stomach, her hand slightly stuck to the leather.

That reminded her, she looked down, her hand pressing down but she felt surprised to feel it ached but didn’t hurt like it had before. Strange. She used the wall to help her sit up, she felt so stiff now though it felt good in a strange way. She still wasn't dead. Still feeling a confused she pulled up her shirt but gasped in surprised. Where the shot was, was a circle shot shaped scar, as if the skin had grown over the wound, it wasn’t quite the same colour as the rest of her skin, darker, more purplish but still healed. She couldn’t have just healed in her sleep? Could she? This day had gotten weird to unholy strange. How was she going to explain this to Coulson?

 _Coulson_.

May sat up straighter. How was she going to even find him? She was stuck at the bottom on the sea in a cave, been asleep for who-knows-long. Should she even go looking? Yes, she had to. She always had Coulson’s back. He probably though she was dead but it didn’t matter. She needed him, to help figure out what happened to her. May sighed, leaning back, slipping the bullet into her trouser pocket.It would rest his conscious too. He must have felt go guilty for shooting her, it was an accident, she wasn't going to hold it to him unless he was perfectly fine with her being supposedly dead. She flinched at the thought, no, Coulson wouldn’t be happy. She knew him too well.

She would have to get to Maria Hill, she knew he would have contacted her. She was probably in New York. Wherever she was, it wasn't remotely close to New York so she would have to travel. Preferably not under water, she wasn't that strong. She didn’t have any money, either. May knew she needed to revert into stealing cash. She wasn't really happy with doing so but she was going to need it. Clothes weren’t an issue; they were fine except a bit wet with a bloody hole in them. She didn’t want to waste her time and mony shopping when she needed the money for transport. It would be tough but she could manage it. If she could talk to Fury, he would help. He owed her that. She sighed again, her throat aching, dry from the salt. Now that she thought about it, she was quite thirsty, and hungry. The thought of food and drink came more appealing. She needed that as well.

She couldn’t stay here forever.

Glancing about, May shifted again, looking about. The amount of light being let in was tiny, so it would be impossible to get out upwards without falling and killing herself. There was only one more way out. The way she had come in. May slid her legs back into the water which felt surprising warm. She didn’t know if she could still breath under water but she had to try. She lowered herself down but kept her hands fixed on the slimy rock, ready to pull herself up again. The water felt soothing on her stomach, opposed to the last time which it burnt. She was surprised she didn't pick up an infection. Simmons would help figure that out.

May took a deep breath before lowering her head underwater. Everything seemed fine for a moment before she began to let the air out. That’s when the initial panic set in she the water shot down her throat. She clenched onto the rock to keep her under. Her chest seized, wanted to reject the water before May began to breathe it in,and a few moments later her muscles relaxing. Her heart hammered still but everything began to calm down.

Good, she could still do it.

She let herself fully sink till her boots hit the rocks below, her eyes now seeing they were a lot sharper than she remembered. May followed the formation back out to the mouth she paused to look about. There was a few meters of water till the bottom of the sea, the water above her looked dark so the surface was quite a way up. Maybe she could get onto a fishing boat and hope it goes to New York. A possibility.

May decided to head straight up, see if she could see land anywhere. She’d be surprised if there was but it was worth a try. May kicked off from the rocks, no pain and both her arms free helped and she was a lot faster. The light got a little brighter she she went. The surface coming closer but it was still far. Then she spotted a dark shape up ahead that was moving straight left and would pass over her.

Seeing a chain, May darted up. Hoping to catch the chain before the propellars. The chain was slimy and hard to grip, the speed had her lagging behind but it was secure. The pressure against her as the water risited against her. She closed her eyes against it. The water stinging them. Feeling her hands slipping and curled her chain around them.

May's arms began to ache has the time passed, her fingers felt like they were stone. She slid her hands up the chain and began to climb up. As her head broke the surface, she saw the boat was nearing a harbour just coming into her line of vision. It looked familiar but it wasn't New York.

She ducked back under the water again, not wanting to be seen by the passengers in the boat. She'd have to wait till they were closer before swimming the rest. She didn't want to be seen like that. It would draw up way to many questions. May waited a further ten minutes before loosening her grip right to the end before letting go, memorising the direction of the bubbles of the boat before propelling herself forwards after it. Well this was a start. All she needed now to to get onto land, get money, food and a newspaper to catch up before travel plans. Her licked her lips, her mind to food and water for a moment. Her stomach growled.

Seeing the harbour out come into sight, she took a right towards the beach, the sea floor and the surface looked to be equal as she swam through it. As May approached the beach, she could see a few feet and people swimming above her. Her feet got to equal ground before May decided to walk the rest. The water in her lungs made her her heavier so her heels dug into the sea bed.

It felt good to walk, her back was properly stretched, her armslegs were a little stiff but everything was in working order. The ache in her healed wound was gone now with her constantly moving now. Then her head broke the surface, she coughed up what she could as she went, wobbling as her blance was tested, the waves hitting her from behind. She could feel a few stares and whispered as she got to the beach. Pausing as all the water washed from her body. May inhaled the beach air, her spine cracking as her lungs will with oxygen, lifting her ribs and the spinal vertabites they were attached to.

Ignoring everything, May spotted a way from the beach and headed off the sand. There was sounds of traffic and cars, people and family's were walking about. Some children drenched from the sea in nothing but swimming costumes. May could feel something was different about the area. Everything looked ordinary and not out of place but it had a feel to it... She didn't like it. Gaining more stares when she got onto the pavements.

She found a bench and took a seat, waiting for someone to sit next to her. A couple of minutes later, a business man on his phone stopped. Putting his bag on the side and appeared to be in a deep argument with the other line. He shrugged off his jacket and threw it over the bag.

"No, it's 50, 5-0, comes after 4-9. It's not-" she caught. A edge of his wallet was peeking out the egde of his jacket pocket. A scan around the area shows she had a few seconds to snag the wallet before anyone noticed, but she also needed to get away without it looking suspsciouce.

She leant back, her hands resting on her stomach before an idea clicked. She had coughed the water out her lungs but not out her stomach... She clenched her stomach, coughing, one hand closer to the jacket before she stuck her hand down her throat, there was an instant reaction, water projected from her, down onto her lap and pavement, the man in response yanked his jacket the wallet tipping out without his notice and she snatched it, stuffing it up the back of her shirt in her choking fit. There was a red tint to the water which she expected before standing up, the man hurrying away, more angry than he was before.

"Are you alright?" May heard a voice ask, a touch on her arm. She whipped wound to see a woman her age standing there, concerned.

"I'm okay, fell off my boat earlier, must have swallowed some of the water." She lied, straightening up, taking deep breathes. "And caugh my shirt" she added as the woman glanced to her leather vest.

"I've done that before,not plesant. Well bye." She walked past and headed on her way. May headed away. Walking across the street and pulled out the wallet. Going straight to the cash before depositing the wallet to the street bin. $180. That would be enough.

Pocketing the cash, May headed up to the more busier area. She gained a further fifty dollars before come one across a tiny supermarket. _Wawa_ , the signs said.

May headed insided and went straight to the water, picking out two two litre bottles of water, a bag to carry it all, three different sandwiches and bits of small snacks, finishing her shopping spree to the newspaper, pulling out the most interesting one before opening it up. Her eyes landed on the date.

May gasped.

She hadn't been asleep for 12 hours or a day... She had been asleep for... A year!!!


	7. Chapter 7

May couldn't believe it. She was stuck in a cave at the bottom of the sea for a whole _year_ and she didn't know. She must have fallen into some kind of coma to have slept like that. How did she not starve to death, or dehydration? Was it connected to her water breathing thing? It had to be! There was nothing usual about her than that. Her shot must had healed naturally in her coma state so that wasn't unnatural except the lack of an infection.

She took a deep breath. No, she would hold back her emotions till she was out and somewhere else. She really needed to get to New York now. Coulson thought she had been dead for a year and what was he like now? His behaviour? How was Skye, Simmons, Ward and Fitz? May hoped they weren't mentally damaged by seeing her fall. What were they like now? What had happened at the Hub? The clairvoyant?

May straightened up, composing her face and headed to the till. The man stared at little but made no comment on her sea soaked attire till she came to having the money over.

"Someone throw you in the sea?" He commented.

"Something like that." She answered, taking the cash and put the change into her pockets before heading out. She hurriedly made her way to an empty parking lot and sat down in the corner, putting the newspaper next to her, and open the bottle of water. The water felt like chocolate on a winters evening, as it ran down her throat. Soothing it from the salt, washing out the taste too, her focus sharpened too, more than she remembered. It was like an instant thing, a relief. She took a few deep breaths.

Everything felt better now, more easy to concentrate. She had drunk half the bottle but she'd have to watch herself to see if she would throw it up or not. Long gaps in meals did that. Hers had been a while. May sighed. Everything was too weird. She shouldn't have been alive. She shouldn't have breathed under water, she should have drowned and bled out but she was perfectly normal before the fall. What changed? May did her best to think back to the fall. Coulson had tried to grab her but it had been too late....not hen there was that strange light and sound.... The needles feeling then.... Something had touched her! What had it been? She had passed out before seeing what it was. It had left her alone apart from that brief touch to her head and hands.

May ripped back her sleeves from her thumbs, but saw nothing visible, running her finger over the back if her left hand it still felt normal. Her then ran her hand across her forehead but that felt normal. But someone on her wrist caught her attention. It looked like a faded scar of a rune but what caused it? May didn't like it, instantly but it might be a clue to this strangeness. May fixed the sleeve back, her thumb back through the hole. That rune scar meant something, she would need to search about it when she was with Coulson.

She pulled the newspaper onto her knee, focusing her mind on something else. Flicking through it, she realised she was in New Jersey, a good few hundred miles from New York but thankfully not across the world. She could take public transport and walk. Now where would Hill be? If shield was gone and agents were rouge where would she hide? May's mind jumped to Stark industry's. A possibility. It was worth a shot. May opened one of her sandwiches, ignoring the flavour, her mind soley focused on her task. May had met Pepper Pots once, they didn't paticurally liked her that much. Pots would know where Hill was. She was sure of it. As she turned the page she stopped as she saw a familiar face.SHIELD had fallen, she saw and was not building it's self up....hydra infiltrating....

May frowned. Hydra? She pressed on through the article.

_It's been a long year for SHIELD agents as they rebuild their agents from their ashes form the seized of Hydra, a Nazi organisation who grew inside SHIELD for seventy years. Director Coulson has been shown to be into contact with Stark industry's to help with their tech-_

May stopped reading. Director? Coulson had got a promotion from Fury? Stark knew he was alive? Obviously. Now everything made more sense. Hydra was the clairvoyant, the centipede soldiers, deathlok, the suspicion... It linked together. And she had missed all of it! She zipped her new bag open and piled everything into it, walking back into the store.

"Where can I buy tickets or public transport, I'm headed to New York?" She asked.

"At the station, go down to ocean drive, 30th street, it's about forty dollars for the whole trip, probably about five hours time." The man answered.

"Thank you." May followed the signs down to the correct one, the tickets soon in her hand and she waited for the transit Bus. Now it felt like real progress. She was getting somewhere now. That made a small smile, tug at her lips. Coulson would be out out of his guilt.

Her hand striped the damp tickets, her clothes were very wet was drying now, her hair quite crinkly in the spots that dried, the salt of course. But what would she do when she got to Coulson and the team. It would be tough to explain, but she needed Simmons to tests to figure her new found...ability out. Her eye twitched at the thought. It wasn't a power, she repulsed the idea of it, she wanted to be normal again. Seeing the bus pull up, May was broken out her thought. May found a seat at the back next to the window.

A old woman next to her who wrinkled her nose up as she sat. May rolled her eyes at the behaviour. So shallow. It would be a long ride...

May stared through the window as country passed, the sky dark. Her fingers tracing the shot scar through her leather vest. One accident had changed everything. Miscommunication and assumption. She couldn't wear bikinis now. She'd have to cover the scar if she wanted to. She wasn't self conscious of it like Phil was with his. It was a reminder. He would consider it as one too.

"Stomach ache?" The old woman commented, glancing up from her book. May glanced to the woman then to her hand.

"No."

"Looks like a bullet hole." Her voice turned in a way she didn't like it.

"I know." May answered in a closing tone, one that agents in Shield would would recognise to stop talking. Feeling the bus stop May saw she could be getting off. Yanking her bag she clambered away and down the bus, asking the driver to let her off. There was no need to go always to the end of the bus transit stop.

"Thank you" said May as the doors opened. She jumped out and looked about. Relief flowed though her as she saw she was in a familiar place. Must be really good luck, May thought, heading down the street. More luck was raining down onto her as she saw the back of a woman on a phone. This had to be a coincidence. Looking about she could read that a few of the people weren't there by accident. They were constantly keeping an eye on Hill. She counted three of them in the area. Homeless with a trolly, Yepy on her iPod and headphones and a Student teacher texting. Other then them were weren't many people out.

She tightened her bag into a bundle so not to make a sound when she moved. In a flash she took down the Yepy, and teacher before the homeless guy and shot around the corner, unseen by hill who looked behind her to see she was no longer being followed. Hill connected the dots, hanging up and pulled out her gun, looking about. May sunk into the shadows as she entered the ally she was in.

"Maria Hill, we _have_ to talk." May said after a moment. Hill spun about with the gun. May repressed a flinch. Hill gasped as she stepped out into the light. Her arm dropped, her face turned chalk white, the gun clattered to the ground. Her eyes very large, looking like she had seen a ghost.

_"Melinda May._ " She breathed as if she couldn't believe she was there.


	8. Chapter 8

Maria couldn't comprehend what she was seeing.

Melinda May was dead.

She couldn't just pop back like she never died. Coulson coming back from the dead was one thing, she knew all about his resurrection down to the treatments. But how could have May survived the fall, let alone with a shot? Yet she was standing there in front of her. She looked real. Solid edges and all so it wasn't a hallucination.

Part of her hoped it was, that a ghost of May wanted to talk to her, maybe tell her to put Coulson at peace, then the other part wanted her real, so she could do it herself. Looking at the woman, she cast a look to her appearance. Her skin was very pale, almost chalk white, lips too, her hair was quite tangled and crispy looking and looked to have dried naturally from water. Her eyes were very dark but she presumed it to be the lighting. Her clothes also stiff textured, and the same she always wore but Maria's eyes were drawn to the bullett hole right next to the zip. It looked to have a reddish stain against the black edges. Inhaling, she caught the strong smell of sea. Like this woman had just walked out the sea.

"You're dead" Maria breathed, hoping to god that it was a hallucination and she was talking to air. "How can you be here?"

"Took a bus. Not rocket science." The hallucination replied.

"Coulson shot you! Out the Bus!"

"I know. I survived the fall and the shot." Her hand wandered to the shot hole on her stomach. It made her stomach churn.

"You should have drowned." The crinkly look and the smell explained that.

"I know, I should have. I can't explain what happened, I don't know. I need to know where Coulson is" Maria debated for a moment, it was hardly ordeal to tell a piece of her imagination a location the the shield director. But she had to know...

Stepping forwards, Maria reached out but felt a thrill of shock run through her as her hand touched the hallucination's shoulder. She wasn't a hallucination. May was here. Her breath hitched. She was actually here. In the background, interrupting them, police sirens rang out, coming closer. "Where's Coulson?" May asked again. Maria blinked, dropping her hand, trying to recover from her shock.

"On the bus, he's got a team to the fridge to reclaim it." Maria answered, Pepper had told her that when she picked up the phone.

"Can you get me there?" But before Maria could answer, the undercover cars with flashing lights pulled around the bend, blinding her temperoly form the harsh light. When the lights dimed she saw May was covering both her eyes with her hands. No use to the sudden brightness, she presumed. What had May been doing for the past year? It was obviously not much, either had been at a hospital or... Maria couldn't think of anything else that would explain it.

"Drop your weapons." A man shouted. Maria held her hands up to show she wasn't armed, the gun wat at her feet. "I can get you a plane," Maria said, ignoring the surrounding men.

"Stark won't mind if it's for a good cause," May's face softened, her gaze dropping. With a nod, they both followed to the car and got inside, one man taking May's bag. "They can't take us to a station so they're escorting us to Avengers tower." Maria explained, something Tony had compromised with government when it concerned her. They would read him what she done and he'd decide what to do. An easy way out.

Maria could see some of there men were sending glances to May's attire but made no comments in it. It would be awkward enough having to explain the bullet shot in her stomach and now she was still alive. May was classed dead to them too.

"What happened this whole year?" May asked as the car moved forwards.

"A lot. Agent Hand is in charge of the Hub and the Cube. The shield academy has been taken back and rebuilt. All shield students who died have their name put up in their honour. Agent Weaver is in charge of that area. Coulson is the new Shield Director so he and his tem are one of the high test level agents there. He gave them a promotion to help him." May seemed to roll her eyes, a small lifting the corners of her mouth.

"What have you been doing the past year?" Maria asked.

"In a coma in a cave at the bottom the the sea." She answered. That surprised Maria, a coma? that explained a bit but how'd she explain surviving? She made a note to ask that in privet.

"You want to go after Coulson." "Of course. I maybe a little behind time but I can catch up. Sitting in a cave does give you time to think." She shrugged. The car came to a stop before they were both escorted out. Maria saw that Pepper was waiting outside. A phone in one hand and a stern expression on her face.

"What has she done to be esorted back?" Pepper asked as they neared.

"Took out our security on east." The man said.

"Hardly seems like a issue, I'll have Tony deal with it later." Pepper replied. She nodded Maria over which she and May did. Pepper led then back, ignoring the dumbfounded silence of rage from the man.

"Is Coulson at the fridge?" Maria asked.

"Yes, his team and the squad are two hours away."

"How many?" May asked, a frown on her face. Pepper led them up to the lifts.

"Forty, heavy armed, good training."

"What?" May blurred out, her eyes darkening.

"Pepper, this is Agent Melinda May." Maria introduced. Pepper frowned, having heard the name from her and Phil.

"She wants to get to Coulson as soon as possible." Pepper wasn't listening, she noted, but was staring away, assessing her physical state.

"Phil said what he did, if the fall didn't kill you then the water should have, let along bleeding out, infections." Maria sensed this was going to be an ongoing topic she herself hadn't got her head around.

"I don't know. I passed out with water in my lungs, though I was dead but I woke up. I could breath but I was still under." May whispered. Maria looked to May, that shouldn't have been possible. "I can't explains it. I got to a safe spot, a underwater cave but there was an air channel out so it was full of air. I pulled the shot out but I passed out, must have fallen into a coma, woke up... Probably early this morning."

"How'd you get out?" Maria breathed, stunned it what she was hearing. It sounded so far fetched but with May, she wouldn't lie.

"Swam, caught the bottom of a boat, got to land, found out I was in New Jersey, stole some cash, got a transit bus, found you and here we are."

"Something I can't wrap my head around, you can breahting underwater?" Pepper asked.

"I told you, I can't explain it. I want some tests run to see how but I need to get to Coulson as soon as possible. It's been a year for him and a day for me since we last saw each other." The doors pinged open.

 

May sighed, this was getting frustrating. She needed to get to him, forty armed men weren't enough to take the fridge back, they needed people of her skills if there were forty of them. She would need to go in as back up. Maria took the lead and led them both out to an office space. May wasn't that interested to see Stark. Only Maria but Pepper was good help and had more access to files than Maria. This could work

"Coulson sent us the specs of the fridge," Maria said, the table becoming photogenic as a blueprint of the fridge popped up. "100 floors, one enterance, at top."

"I want to go in as back up. Forty's not enough for that sort of attack. Forty people of my skills could pull it off but I don't think these men are enough. There's an enterance through the water pipes. That'll get me into the maternace on the basement floor."

"The pipes were designed so no electronics would work within the pipes, that includes oxygen tanks, radio, comms, all of them will stop working." Pepper butted in. They both looked to her. "I read."

"Not an issue, I don't need a oxygen tank." May answered, she zoomed in on the piping, memorising them. "They look big enough for me, there's quite a few bars but dissolving solvent could wear them down."

"True. Coulson's forces are planning three arial attacks, going from top, middle and bottom at the same time, teams of 13 in each strike."

"The base will be on red alerts for any further planes before the teams can take them down. You'll be shot out the sky."

"Been there, done that." May shrugged, she had handled a lot worse.

"Nothing we say is going to change your mind, is it?" Pepper asked.

"Coulson's lived in hell for long enough. I have to pull him out, even if it means running into a suicide mission after him. I'll do it."

"A jet will be ready in five, it can get you to the fridge in the hour." They all jumped to see Tony Stark by the door.

"Stark." May said, straightening up.

"Aren't you suppose to be... Underwater? Being eaten by wildlife?" Stark questioned, point to May. He looked like to be eating Cheetos.

"Tony!" Pepper hissed, her eyes flashing.

"How much you hear?" May questioned, folding his arms

"Everything, Jarvis patched me through when he checked your records, May, is it? His records came up with your death report."

"Can we have this conversation after she save Coulson ass," Maria called.

"Alright, I don't want him dying on me, again." He frowned. May got back to the prints. Getting back to her plans. This was going to be a lot more interesting now.


	9. Chapter 9

Coulson sighed as the small jet plane buzzed through the air, followed by the other two.

They couldn't bring the Bus this close so they had to land it and split off into their attacking planes that wouldn't get noticed till it was too late. Forty men were the only available Shield agents who were willing to get the fridge back, the others had to keep their compounds secured. There were forty six including his team.

Ward had recovered very nicely from his surgery, all was left was a pale scar that would fade in time. Skye had stayed with him through his recovery and had a slow relationship building up. Agent Hand had given him the choice to give them hydra intel in return he could stay and not be persecuted by Shield or the USA airforce. He took the option fairly quickly. That had helped take down a few secret hydra compounds, finding a few more shield members though only a few had survived because they had been experimented on by Hydra.

Triplett had taken to bunking on the sofa but kept his things in Wards bunk. They both didn't mind the arrangement.

Fitz Simmons hadn't changed much, only they would have Ward and Trip train them in combat, knowing how vulnerable they really were in there face of danger. That had been going well. So well that he hesitantly asked them to help. Stupidly now that he thought about it.

Nothing was the same though, not without May. It felt colder when he passed her bunk or neared the cockpit. As promised he locked her bunk but once or twice he opened it and stared into it, almost as if hoping that she was there asleep. She never was. It was just how she had left it when she woke that morning.

May's mother had taken the news of her death in a calm manner but she did backhand him across the face, and shouted profanities at him but allowed him to make the arguments. He took it all. A funeral was made for the following day, a casket was buried in the cemetary of May's mother choice. The stone was beautiful black marble in gold was:

_Melinda May_

_20th November 1966._

May's mother had chosen a small poem in Chinese, she said that discribed her personally, before and after Bahrain. She never told him what it said and he didn't understand what it said. He knew it was a payback to him to not know what it said, he accepted that.

He often bought flowers every few months when he visited the grave, the team too. He knew it was empty but he liked to talk to it. It helped him get stuff off hs chest. The weight of regret never lifted. It was always there in his heart but there was nothing he could do. He could save the presidents life, even a million but it wouldn't lift it. He tried to think what would have happened is he never shot her, if the bus never opened.

One senario he came up was that he would have been angry, bushing her off till he drive her away. He liked to think of that version. She would still be alive in that version and not have suffered as much as she had done. He knew May would have come back in that version. Perhaps to earn his trust back. He liked to think so. But May wouldnt come back. A year after her death and he still hoping she would come back, ha, he was a fool. Even the Cavalry couldn't beat death.

He himself couldn't but outside help had dragged him back. With the Guest House drugs. It had been a consieration. Once. If it hadn't blown up and if they had found her body... Would he have let her suffer the same way he had to bring her back to him?

His head said no. Death had peace and mercy, life wasn't so forgiving.

But his heart would have said yes. Let her life the life he so cruely taken from her. If her memory's were re done, a Tahiti for her, she wouldn't have been the same. Like him, he knew he was different than his former self had been prior to his death.

He had often dream up a beautiful scenery, there would be birds, sun, beautiful lighting as it shone through trees and May would be there, dressed in a beautiful white dress, sometimes's even collecting flowers, sometimes's running and giggling with dreamed up children. Playing games and... Being happy.

That was what a nightmare would be of her. Her being in a place he couldn't reach her. He couldn't follow her until his job was done. To save and protect people who couldn't do it themselves. It was his responsibility he couldn't leave behind just yet.

"Sir," he heard Triplett call.

"We nearly there?"

"Yes, twenty minutes and well be above them."

"Good. Skye can you hack into the system?"

"If we're closer, stark's wireless system does grant me much more exploits but it does have limits."

"Like?"

"If the facility has a scrambler then getting into the system wouldn't work. I can bring down the fire walls but taking full control will only be possible if I'm in the control centre of the fridge."

"Do what you can." Coulson said.

Skye had done so well the past year, never judged him or blamed him which was a spark in his darkness. He was glad he wasn't alone though. His team, though missing one, was still in tact. He couldn't bear it if he lost another of his team.


	10. Chapter 10

"I can't believe I'm letting you do this, May." Maria hissed from her side of the radio.

"You're not my mother Maria, also my mother thinks I'm dead, so moot point." May answered, wincing slightly as she said it. Would it be too much to visit her mother after this?She could have to wait and see.

“I can’t have it on my continues if you die again, May.”

“I’ll be fine. I survived a shot to the stomach and a fall from a plane. I think I can survive this.” May replied fixing in a water proof comm and a bullet proof jacket.

 Stark had rigged it to hold a few scans to help find out how she was able to breathe water. It would read her chest movement, heartbeat and few more things she didn’t listen to. Maria would have those readings on screen from Stark’s tower. On her leg she fixed a gun and had ammo fixed to her vest. In her boots she placed a small throwing knife, lightweight but easy to access. She had a few explosives too.

“When you get to the pipe, use the explosives. They won’t work when you’re in but once you’re out then it should work again. We can’t contact you at all through it.”

“I’m aware. Have the plane land in a safe distance and send the location to my phone. I’ll direct anyone who can support any injured. Have the body bags out ready, for use or spare lying space..” May instructed to the pilot. She was currently on one of stark’s jets, with a full medical team on for the other teams that went in. They didn’t seem to have anyone except Simmons doing medical from what she got from the reports Coulson had done.

He was really under prepared in a way she didn’t like. It was like he was looking to get everyone killed, including himself. Had her death really affected him that much to do something this reckless. She’d have to wait and find out.

“Fridge is in sight.”

“Circle around, I’ll jump out. System says the firing systems inside have been taken down. Skye’s work no doubt.” May said, looking to the tablet on the side. She headed down and opened the door and fixed on her night goggles.

“Wait! You forgot your pa-” she didn’t hear the rest, jumping straight out. The air air whisled eofre she plunged straight into the ice water. It knocked the air out her lungs becufe she inhalted. Her body acted naturally to it, panicing before she began to swim

“May!” Maria’s startled voice echoed. “Are you there! Please answer! I can’t have you dead again!! What if Coulson finds out!”

She felt her vitals slow down before picking up.

“Oh thanks god!” Maria breathed.

“It’s my body natural reaction, Hill. Chaing from air to water very suddenly…” Her voice was water logged.

“Interesting.” She heard Stark muse.

“Later, Stark. Let May carry on.” Maria hissed. She could hear a faint slap and Stark’s complaint. “Swim to the bottom and you should see what looks like a cave with natural looking spikes. They’re not. Programed to shoot out by movement. It even has a body waste disposal system. You need to disarm the spikes by the rock just above the cave. Put dissolvent on and an explosive and be at least three meters away.”

May did as she was instructed, reaching the bottom easily due to her new weight of objects. She didn’t know about the cave spikes. That could have been a nasty turn out for her. She pulled the dissolvent out and saw a rock that seemed to be in the wrong place from the looks of the formation of the rest. She place an underwater explosive  on and dissolvent around it before setting a detonation time of 4 seconds. Shooting away.

A couple of seconds later there was a book and the water was suddenly filled with sand. Making it instantly harder to breath so she held her breath, swimming forwards to the damage. The spikes from the top and fallen down  halfway, the bottom ones collapsed down. Hoping fro the best, she darted forwards,  breathing in fresh  clear water as she went.

“Through, water got rock logged. How far is the pipe.”

“Should be above you any second. As soon as your head goes through we can’t get any reading.”

“Okay, you’ll know when I’ll get out. It’s a clear path towards the basement.”

“Yes, don’t take any rights unless you want to be shredded.” Stark called. May rolled her eyes, spotting a pipe leading upwards. Looking up she saw it had a grate across it. It came off a few seconds later, it’s hinges dissolves through.

With that, she squeezed through, the insides of the pipes slimy which was a favour to her that kept her sliding through it easily. She couldn’t help but count the seconds she was ticking through. She had to be faster. More of Coulson’s men or his team would have died. May pushed herself faster.

What felt like ages, and past 5 grates, she saw surface of that looked like a tank. She rose to the dark surface and rose the top of her head out.

“SHIELD had infiltrated the Fridge.” A man said. It was a meeting place. Perfect.

“how many?”

“Forty, maybe fifty. Not many. It’s led by Director Coulson. Our outside defences are down but we have men waiting in the lower bunks to a sudden fire, and mini explosive, should kill them all when they get lower.”

None of the eighteen men she counted saw her. She could hear a buzzing form her com so she knew it was active. No doubt the others could hear what the men said.

She reached in and pulled out one explosive setting the detonating and ducked under the as it went off. She felt the whole place shake, and what looked like body parts and stone suddenly fell into the tank. She took off her night goggles and let them drop, swimming up and saw it was empty of living people. She clambered out the tank and coughed up all the water.

“I’m in, all Hydra agents down in this room.”

“We heard. We’ve sent a warning to Coulson through a comm, he knows there’s an extra person but doesn’t know it’s you.”

“Thank you. I want to keep my existence  a surprise till I can see him face to face.” She whispered keeping low and pulled out her Gun.

She opened the door and trotted along down the corridors. Keeping her hearing out and throwing an explosives into the Hydra men filled rooms. She never waited for the bang but carried on.

How many hydra men were here? Lots but with her work, they were dwindling down. Reaching up a layer, she pulled out her gun, making silent work of the hydra people who walked on ones or twos yet none of them seemed to have noticed they were in fact losing men.

She stopped as she heard voices and running feet.

“We’ve lost communication with the basement teams, heading here now.”  The three agents dropped after the sounds of her gun.  She broke into a run now, eager to get to Coulson now. So close. Now.

She heard the sounds of gun shots, louder as she went. Shooting the back of the hydra Men as she went.

“There!” A voice behind her shouted, she jumped and pulled a man as a shield, waiting till they were closer till she dropped the man and disabled the shooters. Taking their guns she headed up. But her heart leaped as she heard Coulson over the Gun fire. He was alive!

She waited till more men were about before shooting them. One hydra ahent shot just above her head but the debris caught her above the eyebrow. It wasn’t major but did bleed just a bit.

“Keep going.” Coulson thundered from the other room. Seeing more hydras with weapons heading up the corridor, probably one of the last lots appear from the others in the room. She pulled out her last two explosives and threw one towards the hydra group.

“Tell Coulson to evacuate the room he’s in, I’m going to blow the Hydra men out.” May hissed turning her back as the bomb went off.

“Done.” Maria answered

“All men out.” Coulson shouted. She could hear complaints from the living agents still there but they did as he said.

“Kill them!” A hydra woman thundered but May threw in the last of her bombs and a second later the whole place shook, the boom almost defined her and the walls cracked the door blasting out. Before nothing but showers of dust that seem to be a cloud of grey.

May coughed but picked herself up. It was time. Her heart picked up but she entered the broken room, the other door blasted out.

“The fridge is now secured. All hydra agents are up for being garden fertiliser." May called in, not at all  keeping her voice quiet. She heard a few intakes and whispers…

“It can’t be…” She heard Ward breath from the dust behind the door.  

Then she heard a groan before movement, a dark shape appearing armed. She dropped her gun in response but the man froze when he saw her, the dust cloud settling around her as she looked to the wide but tired eyes of Phil Coulson.

“Melinda.” He breathed, his voice nothing but a whisper but she heard it.


	11. The End

Coulson stared. Transfixed to the ghost in front of him. His mind numb.

May couldn’t be here. Had she came back to haunt him? She looked solid enough, not at all transparent though was very pale in skin colour. Blood loss was his first thought. She was dressed in the exact same clothes she had fallen in but with a bullet proof vest at which she had unzipped and dropped to the floor. Her hair was mattered to her head, soaking all the way through. She had dark circles under her eyes which looked like she could do with a good night sleep. His eyes dropped to her stomach, his heart lurching as he saw the hole in her leather vest.

He had done that.

“Phil.” Ghost May answered in a low calm voice.

“Can she be real?” He faintly heard Simmons ask Triplett.

“Yes.” May answered, looking past him. “I’m perfectly real.”

Simmons squeaked at being overheard.

Coulson couldn’t find his tongue anymore, but dropped his gun which clanged to the floor, the shot shooting into the dead hydra agent it was facing. He couldn’t look away from May though. He gained feeling through his legs, approaching the suppose-to-be dead woman until they were arms-length apart.

His nose picked up the strong stench of sea water coming off her. It looked like she had come up from the sea too.

Hesitantly he raised his hand towards her, surprised when it came into contact with her sea soaked  arm. She smiled softly, no once of anger or hatred in her face but her expression was of…almost understanding.

“It’s been a while.” She said lightly, using her other hand and passed it over his hand. It was warm. Part of him expected her to be ice cold. Cold as dead but she was warm. Warm as a living human being.

“You’re alive?” He whispered.

“I hope that’s not a complaint there, Phil.” She said. He flinched at her words. “Sorry.”

“I shot you!” Was out his mouth before he could stop himself.

“Yes, you did.” She answered coolly this time and pulled a silver object from a pocket and held it out in her hand. He lowered his gaze to it. Flinching as he saw the small silver bullet. He went to take it out but she closed her hand around it. She put her hand to her ear

“Send in the medical team. All defences are down, no Hydra.” She said softly. He felt her tug him along towards the remaining people and team. “Come on.” He let her.

*

The remaining SHIELD squad backed down the corridors, now hurrying to their fallen team. Any living ones they called out, the rest they put in a vacant room, ready for the body bags. Melinda counted nineteen dead. Ten were critically injured and the rest fine or barely scathed. She saw in relief Coulson’s team were only covered in a few scratches and bruised but not harmed. The medical team arrived and began to sort everyone out.

She could feel Coulson’s stare which she didn’t mind. She’d need to talk to everyone in her team before Coulson. She’d let Stark and Simmons conduct a few tests to her new ability. She heard Maria call in a clean-up team for the Fridge, asking everyone to withdraw to their jets. Not letting go of his arm, she headed out.

The cold air suddenly hitting her wet cloths. She shuddered. Maybe a new set of clothes would be called for. She felt Coulson move and shrug off his jacket and put it over her shoulder. That brought some warmth back.

“Thank you, Phil.” She whispered.

“I’m so glad you’re alive.” He breathed as they continued to a jet. His team taking one and the rest splitting off for the other two.

“So am I.” She said with a small smile. She felt the others approach them fast. She opened the Jet and headed towards the cockpit, Coulson following her to the other pilot seat. The rest of the team took the hint and stayed.

She started the engines and set the coordination to Stark’s tower.

“I’m…so sorry, Melinda.” Coulson started, getting choked up  “No words can express it. I-” he stoped unable to find words. “I lost you. I’d never thought you’d return.”

“It takes more than you and a gun to put me down, Phil.” May answered. “I know you never wanted to kill me.”

“You’re not mad.” He asked.

“The only thing I’m mad about is that you threw away everything we had over an encrypted line with a gun. You could have used an ICER instead and locked me in the interrogation room to question me.”

“I know that now.” He snapped lightly. Though she senced he didn’t want to upset her more. “I would have preferred that to the one I went through.2

“How did you survive?” She sensed it was his burning question.

“I shouldn’t have. Phil. I shouldn’t even be here” Her hands griped the stick harder. “I hit the water, couldn’t swim up. I was bleeding out alongside the water in my lungs, blacked out. Don’t know how long but… I woke up.”

“What?” he questioned.

“I don’t know how or why. I need Simmons and Stark to run a few tests. I could breathe perfectly under the water. I found a safe place, got that out then went to sleep.”

She gestured to the bullet in her pocket. She was going to have it drilled through and made into a necklace. A reminder.

“How long?” He asked.

“I woke up…probably this morning.  I must have fallen into some sort of Coma, kept me alive, my shot healed naturally but a scar is permanent.” Her face turned sour.

“I’m sorry.”

“I know. I’ve forgiven you for it. But It’s not something I will ever forget, Phil.”

He nodded, “Same. I keep reliving it every night. Can’t get a night of peace. I always had that dead hope that you made it but I never thought it would happen.”

May said nothing.

“That’s the past now, Phil. You’re rebuilding SHIELD. Director now.” May said, changing the topic.

“Fury came to me when we defeated Garrett at the Hub, Told me to build it back up. Agent Hand is running the Hub. Any Living Hydra Agents go straight to the US Air force. Part of the treaty we have between SHIELD and them.”

“It does sound reasonable to what Hydra has done. How was the team, after?” She asked.

Coulson sighed heavily.

“Skye… she took your…death hard. But it caused her more to focused in her job, trained well with Agent Triplett. Ward took a shot to the liver from Garrett,  He was complaint with Hydra information after his operation and recovery. “

“Ward was Hydra?” her voice turned colder.

“Yes. But his life of abuse and the life he had on the bus gave him a different view on things. He chose to die for SHIELD and betray us to Hydra. He’s fine but very different. He and Skye are just starting to date.”

“That’s against Protocols.” She smirked. It was about time.

“I’m the Director of SHIELD, May.” He chuckled, his hand lifting and rested it on her arm again.

“I’m glad you’re back.” He said. May turned to look at him.

“Me too.” She agreed before looking to the door. “But I’ll need to talk to the team.”

“We have plenty of time, Melinda.” Coulson said lightly.                                    

May looked to Coulson for a moment then nodded with a smile. Yes, they had plenty of time for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the official end but the next chapter is more of a bonus chapter, explaining how May survived so it'll be relatively quite short. Thank you everyone who's read it and loved it!!!


	12. The End- Offical

May piloted the Bus when they got to it. Coulson was forced to leave to make the calls for the agents. Skye drifted in as soon as Coulson had left. Taking the seat Coulson had sat in then just stared at her for a few minutes. She smiled affectionately to herself.

“It hasn’t changed much.” May said, looking about the cockpit.

“No one liked to stay in here.” Skye answered. “Coulson had your bunk locked up so no one went into it.”

May frowned but there was a sense of relief that her clothes were still there, she should change into something dry.

“My clothes are probably there.” She said aloud.

“Maybe you need a shower too, it’s starting to smell like the sea side in here.” Skye commented. May smiled, chuckling as well. She was right. Setting the coordinates towards Stark’s tower, she stood up. The hacker mirroring her.

“What’s it like? Underwater?” Skye asked interestedly as they headed out.

“Weird but peaceful and quiet.” May answered. “I need to Simmons and Stark to run tests, see how I can breath underwater.”

“What’s that like?”

“Fine, once the water’s filled up my lungs, it’s a bit painful switching from one to the other. I’ve gotten use to it.”

Skye stayed silent. They headed towards her bunk to she saw the lock. Then she saw Simmons scuffy towards her with the Key.

“Simmons,” She greeted. “Could you take a few blood and tissue samples. I want to know how I can breathe underwater.” She said, taking them and unlocked the door. Everything was how she left it, deodorant, bits of make-up even her clothes were still in it’s neat pile.

“Of course. I’ll get the data form Stark too.” She said, disappearing. She sighed and pulled out a clean set, dry and non-sea socked version of her current attire. Though her boots would need to be replaced.

“Skye, could you fetch a few sealing bags and a box?” She asked. Skye hurried off. She headed to the shower and shredded off her old clothes. Folding them into a neat pile and put them on the side.

The warmth of the water felt like bliss on her skin, dislodging and cleaning away the dryness from the salt. Her skin felt so much more softer and smooth. Her hair that had dried together was soon back to silky smooth before she even put shampoo or conditioner on.

It was a shame to get out the shower. She dressed into her newer dry set of clothes and headed out. Skye was waiting with her requested things. Thanking her, she put the damp sea clothes into the bags, pressing the air out and put them in the box. She fingered the bullet before heading down to the Lab.

She saw Stark on the monitor and what looked like scan results. Both Simmons and Fitz were talking science stuff when she came in.

“May.” Simmons squeaked as she came in.

“Stark out.” Then Starks monitor blacked out. Fitz minimised the chat screen and grabbed a few objects.

“A few blood samples and tissue samples but I’m afraid we’ll need a few more scans.” He said looking apologetic.

May nodded, putting the box to the side and sat on top of the table surface.

“I want you to drill this through and add a chain, please” She said handing him the bullet. He reluctantly took it and headed away. Simmons Began to set up the science equipment around her, asking Skye to hold up something behind her back, even fitting that felt like a bodice around her chest.

“I’m going to have to ask you to breathe water for more accurate scans.  This mask and tank is filled with water.”

“I get what to do. My body will panic because it’s water. I’ll be fine after so please don’t pull the mask away.” May answered, looking to Skye.

She took the mask from Simmons which filled with water. She took a small breath and fixed it onto her face and put her thumbs up. They turned on their equipment, in the corner of her eyes she saw the monitor which what looked like a x-ray of her chest. There were many other variations of her chest too.

She breathed out all the air and let the Water flood down her mouth and nose. There was a panic through her body again which she expected, her heart rated spiked and she swiftly kicked Skye away who was panicking. She took a few deeps breaths of the clean water. She could noticed that this water had no salt in, making it easier to breath.

“Wh-“ She heard a startled voice. She looked carefully round so not to dislodge anything to see Coulson and Ward standing in. She waved so they didn’t panic straight off.

“Oh, Sir!” Simmons said, looking to May then back to him.

“What are you doing?” Ward asked. Looking straight to her then to the things around her, settling on the mask.

“Running a few tests on how May’s body is adapting to the water in her lungs.”

“She requested the tests.” Skye added.

Coulson looked to her at which she nodded. She couldn’t speak with the mask on.

“And?” Ward asked, moving to look at the screen.

“Her lungs are a lot different than to what a normal set of lung should do. The Heart rate slows and the movement of her lungs speeds up. The cells in the bronchi and alveoli tighten to allow all the water to be pushed out in each breath.”

“Humans _can_ breathe a type of water called Perfluorochemical , This liquids carry more oxygen and carbon dioxide than blood but the human lungs haven’t adapted to breath liquid, there for can’t get the liquid out the lungs fast enough. A human could probably breathe this water for a few minutes before their lungs collapse.” Fitz explained.

“May’s lungs however changes enough not to disrupt air breathing but enough for her to survive underwater for the time she’s under there. We’re just filtering clean non salted water through the mask with a blue colouring so it shows up on the scans and pictures.”

“What caused her Lungs to change?” Ward asked, frowning. Both Fitz and Simmons looked at each other.

“We don’t know.” Simmons admitted, “But these changes to the lungs, I have to say they’re permanent.”

May sighed and nodded. Breathing water probably wasn’t the worse thing but she wanted to know how she was asleep for all this time. She waved for Simmons attention and tapped the mask.

“Okay, let me just get a few towels and stuff before we take the mask off.”

She went and got the stuff.

“It’s fascinating to see how it works.” Trip said the corner, looking at the monitor. May rolled her eyes, yawning slightly. Simmons slipped the towels over the machinery over her torso, holding one under her head as Fitz cut the water supply. She took a deep breath of water and pulled the mask off, snatching a bucket and emptied the content of her lungs into the bowl. Wiping her face with a spare towel.

“Ugh, I hate that feeling.” She commented.

“You alright?” Coulson asked.

“Fine. It’s uncomfortable switching from water to air. Is there any indications how I survived a year with no food or water.”

“Ah, no. But I have a theory, that caused your lungs to changed caused your body to compensate. It stopped internal bleeding, infections and put your body into a hibernation state. What do you last remember after falling from the plane?”

May’s mind sprung to the cryptic possible creature.

“Sinking. Everything was getting darker, I couldn’t breathe. I passed out but I did feel something touch my head and hand.” Simmons was suddenly pulling up her sleeves, turning her hands over till she saw the strange marking on her wrist. She ran her finger over it.

“Fitz, come look at this. It’s not a scar is it?”

“No.” May answered, She’d know if she had a scar like it.

“Looks strange, something people write in calligraphy. Rune?”

“I’ll look into it.” Skye answered. May pulled her hand back as soon as a photo was taken. Fitz turned off the machines and deconstructed the machines from her body, allowing her to jump off the side.

“It doesn’t matter if nothing comes up with the scar. Something’s can’t be explained.” May said, picking up her box.

She saw a small black box in addition to her things. She knew it was her new necklace. She pulled it out and fixed it around her neck. She could feel Coulson’s flinch at the sight of the bullet but she zipped up her leather vest so it was out of sight.

“We have a lot of work to do.” She smiled, a small reserved one. But she felt surprised as she felt a body hit her. She knew it was Skye by the tightness. But they were quickly joined by Coulson. She patted the girls hair and Coulson’s arm. They must have been holding back.

“I’m so glad you’re back.” Skye muttered.

“Me too.” May agreed, allowing her to hug her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it! Hope you've enjoyed it! Sorry is there wasn't much more an an explanation. Something can't away's be explained but i love that there's going to be that mystery that won't get solved. Also, If anyone has stories and ideas like mine, please let me read your work! I'd love to read them!! I like to write stories because I want to read them instead.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure of the turn out of the next chapter. But i will do a spoiler and say May's not dead so... yeah. What you think? How should it go?
> 
> Here's should be a link to a photo i edited for this work.  
> http://instagram.com/p/qbpUfcKUwB/
> 
> I'm currently working off by iPad due to my laptop breaking. Auto correct is on so words will be out of placement by accident..


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